My Mother’s Rasam – South Indian “King Soup”

Rasam or King Soup is one that featured in our house on rainy days or days when someone, most often my father, had a cold. It’s a South Indian soup -peppery and hot, sour and nourishing and clears the head. It can be strained and enjoyed in a mug or served as is over a bowl of hot basmati rice.

My paternal grandmother made an excellent Rasam, she had the hand of the women of her generation- delicate in spicing (by Durban standards), prepared food that could cure common ailments and had a pot that could always feed another visitor. She lost a vicious three month battle to cancer when I was 13. I miss her to this day and often wonder what she would have made of the changes post apartheid (she just missed the transition), my life choices and the internet. The internet, there’s a big one. Can’t imagine the grand-pee’s calling via skype, to be honest.

My mother visited recently and this is her recipe for Rasam. She made do with the yellow mustard seeds in my cupboard that afternoon but insists you use black mustard seeds. A friend just brought me a pack of black mustard seeds from Natal – you should be able to find them at most spice shops around the country. They are not easy to find at supermarkets, not in the Cape anyway.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4-5 T tamarind pulp, soaked in 2 cups warm water

1 T whole black peppercorns

1 T cumin seeds

1 T black mustard seeds

1 head garlic, peeled

1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly

2 T vegetable oil

4 dried red chillis

1 t turmeric

1 medium tomato, skinned and chopped

1 cup water

salt, to taste

15-20 g fresh coriander, washed, de-stalked and chopped roughly

Method

In a heavy mortar, crush the pepper, mustard seeds, garlic and cumin seeds with a little salt, until the spices are fairly fine but not a powder and the garlic forms a paste.

On medium heat in a pot, fry the onions until translucent.

Add the crushed spices, garlic and red chillis. Fry for a minute, stirring. Add the turmeric and stir for 10 seconds. Add the tomato and the tamarind juice (strain out any pips).

Bring to the boil and lower heat to medium. Cook for 15 minutes.

Add half a cup water (or more if the soup is too strong). Season with salt and serve with fresh coriander.

Hello there! i’m not sure of stockists in Jhb – but Oriental Plaza will stock tamarind, they come in soft blocks and most Indian spice shops will carry too. Hope you find some, it really is different intensity to tamarind paste that you would find in an store carrying Thai and Asian goodies – most of them, anyhow.

Hello Manusha. I’m not familiar with this. Crab takes roughly ten minutes to cook, and will probably taste even better the next day. I don’t recommend overcooking prawns or crab, but you can gauge depending on size of pieces. Let me know how it goes.

Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I’ve been tinkering on and off with various rasam recipes for some time now and I really enjoyed yours. Of course I added a LOT more dried chilies because I’m totally addicted to the heat. I noticed you didn’t included any asafetida. Is there a reason this is excluded? I thought it was required for all rasam…

My mother often uses fenugreek (methi) seeds as we were never fond of hing when we were kids so she’s tailored it suit our tastes. It does have a particular smell I never enjoyed, but by all means use it if you like. Thanks for writing and good on you on all the chilli!

Hi Ishay
I am going to attempt this for the first time this evening.
Just checking with you,
“Bring to the boil and lower heat to medium. Cook for 15 minutes. Add half a cup water (or more if the soup is too strong)”
Do I add the water after the soup has been cooked? or first add the water and then bring to a boil?

Hello! I’m so excited that you will be cooking this recipe. So, to clarify: you would have soaked the tamarind in 2 cups of water (see ingredient list). This is what you will turn up to boil, along with the onions, spices and aromatics. You add extra water after (step 5). Hope that’s clear and you enjoy making it!

Hi, I just made this soup and it really helped with the cold and especially the fever. My mom normally makes it for me when I am in Durban and sick but since I am in pretoria I have to make it myself. Thanks for the recipe.

I’m so excited to have found this recipe! I learned how to make this from Auntie Pilay while living in Maritzburg in high school. For years now living back in the US my mother and I have yearned for her cooking, this being one of our favourite dishes that she would make us. She made the best Roti and Murruku as well. Can’t wait to see if it is all I remember it to be.

Hi Talia. Isn’t this wonderful – how our memories of dear foods and the people who made them for us, works?
This is a simplified recipe and I really hope you enjoy making it.
Thanks for sharing your lovely memories with us.
Ishay

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